I’m going to divert my blog from listing what I’m currently working on and share about a boy I met yesterday. His name is Davidson and he doesn’t know how old he is.

This isn’t an uncommon thing in Cite Soleil. Regular birthday parties aren’t a priority. Neither is documentation of home deliveries. Many children who don’t enroll in school are born, live and die, without paper record of their existence.

Which brings us back to Davidson. He is charismatic in a quiet way; among a group of children, his smile sets him apart. He wore a Scooby Doo T-shirt and nothing else.

I was waiting outside one elder’s home with the pastors, who were chatting with a group of children and adults in the neighborhood when he caught my attention by telling them he wants to go to school. A woman nearby chimes in that he has no mother or father. I asked his name. Davidson Nelson. I asked his age. “Mwen pa konnen”.

This phrase caught my attention because it is one I use multiple times a day and simply translates “I don’t know.” One of the neighbors said he was six. Whether they knew that, remembered him as a baby, or just guessed, I don’t know.

The pastors invited him to come to church and we moved on. I want to help him. I also have to be very cautious and work within the bounds the organization I serve with sets for me.

What do we do for one child on his own, who smiles like he doesn’t have a care in the world and dreams of attending school? How do we serve that one precious face in a sea of deserving precious faces?

Mwen pa konnen.

A familiar quote from Mother Theresa is “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” I’m finding that my job description as a volunteer missionary requires an infinite number of small things each day, which I accomplish with some love and, more often than not, some reluctance. But the moments I remember to invite God into, those moments are done with great love because they are carried by a love much bigger than I have to offer.

This past week has been fairly routine, full of small opportunities to love greatly. I’ve been on lots of visits to elders’ homes with teams of volunteers from the US. I’ve played almost every song in my book of printed out choruses during those visits. I’ve chased translators down to try and get simple answers. I’ve sat in meetings and sent out emails. I’ve washed my laundry and gotten just a little more confident starting basic conversations in Creole. The mundane and repetitive and holy work of living.

I’ve been trying to get creative in my interactions with elders who know no English at all. One of the elders in our program has been living downstairs from my apartment in the clinic’s observation area for the past two weeks, as he recovers from surgery. Our conversations are limited to things like “See you later” and “Do you have pain today?”  One night I decided to pull up Creole gospel music videos on my phone for him, which he loved and now expects every time I see him. Between him and the children living here, I’m not always sure that any of them like me. But, I know they love my iPhone! 😉

As I’m trying to finish up and post this blog, the power just went out for the second time today. Pray for us here. Life in Haiti is a wonderful, albeit inconvenient at times, adventure!

I’m happy to be back in Haiti, and my first few days back have been BUSY! But also so good!

My first day back (Tuesday) was spent in Cite Soleil, visiting elders and reconnecting with my pastors at Hope Church and Madame Jean Claude, who has the biggest heart for service that I’ve ever met. Exciting things are happening there this week, with the opening of Hope Clinic and hiring a medical director for both our clinics!

Coming back to Titanyen felt like coming home, and it is by the grace of God that I feel that growing level of comfort now. One of my Haitian coworkers welcomed me back and said, “I’m glad you’re back. When you’re here, I have more work and more experiences.” I had to laugh at that because I don’t think he enjoys most of the experiences he has had on my behalf.

But, it is a good representation of my own time here. Always more work and always more experiences, and though many are in the form of challenges, all are enriching in the end.

We have had a busy week, with double the normal amount of Americans here to serve with us: more work, more experiences. Several of the stateside staff/leaders with Healing Haiti are also here. I even had the privilege of meeting and also serving alongside the founder of Healing Haiti and his wife this week.

Our missionary team who live at Grace Village have been returning one by one and two by two after time in the states over the holidays, and all seven of us are back here now. I’m grateful for wonderful friends that I get to do life with here. And also thankful for roommates who are willing to kill cockroaches for me! 😉

All the short term teams in town means lots of elder visits this week, and I couldn’t be happier! I am blessed by all the work I get to be part of here, but spending time with elders in their homes and singing in worship is the most fun work.

“I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way–” 1 Corinthians 1:4-5a